A few days ago, I got the chance to do some guest interviews on behalf of MSNBC regarding spirituality in politics. I am not sure if the interviews will air, nevertheless, it was a wake-up call for me. The experience was very empowering and thought provoking. We citizens need to take more time out of our lives to ask questions, not in anger, but out of curiosity.  The word, “politician”, is a misnomer. The correct term is, “representative”, and as a representative, they represent us! And since they represent us, we need to make sure they are reflecting our values!

As a citizen-journalist, it is our job to hold these representatives accountable to our standards while maintaining dignity and poise. In fact, those who conduct journalism and interviews actually have a larger impact on politicians than protestors/demonstrators. I feel that most politicians have grown numb towards protesting as they see it so much, it often falls on deaf ears. However, to have an honest conversation about politics and what fuels the world, politicians are more likely to give a sincere opinion and address the situation with gusto!

As I have ran for political office myself, I can speak from experience, that it is far more effective for constituents to engage in tactful letter writing/meetings, than to threaten me with phrases like, “I’ll never vote for you again if you don’t do this or that!”.  Our ability to communicate is imperative if we are to ever advance our society as a whole. As a citizen and as a journalist, I hope that we will all hold eachother accountable while also respecting the imperfect nature that is humanity. Politicians catch a bad wrap, but they are human too! They sometimes have marital problems, alcohol problems, financial problems, ect… yet, despite all of that, I still believe that most politicians want to do a good job and want to be remembered for being on the right side of history when it comes to how they vote on bills.

My time as a journalist and as a politician, gave me the rare chance to see both sides of the fence.   This is why I believe that everyone should run for office, work at a fast food restaurant, travel as much as possible, write a book, ask out someone on a date and get rejected…. until we are able to put ourselves in the shoes of those we claim to hate, we can never truly know whether or not we truly hate them or it is just a bias notion that we have been ingrained with.

Randell Stroud

Nalini-Global

2018